Bluefur's Could Have Been
by Thought and Memory
Summary: Bluefur though she made the right choice in giving away her kits, but how different could her life have been had she chosen differently? How would her destiny, and those of her kits, have differed?


"The dark gray she-kit will be Mistykit, and the gray tom Stonekit. This little white and gray shekit will be... Mosskit." Bluefur said softly, licking each kit's head as she named them. Thrushpelt pricked his ears, his tail waving in excitment as he looked down at the three suckling kits. Bluefur felt her heart clench sadly at the look of pride and love shimmering in his gaze. He truely looked like a proud father.

He stepped forward, carefully sniffing each tiny kit in turn. His green eyes met her's, brimming with emotion as a loud purr rumbled in his throat. He stretched his head over towards her and nuzzled her affectionately.

"Their beautiful." He murmured softly. "I would have been proud to have been their father." He added, his voice barely a whisper as Featherwhisker's tail vanished from the nursery. Bluefur blinked, looking over at him with surprise.

"You mean even after I...you still..." She struggled to find the words to say, her pelt warm and prickly. Thrushpelt tilted his head, sadness and amusement battling in his eyes.

"You mean do I still love you, even after you kitted someone else's kits?" She nodded.

"Of course I do. And I will, even when I pad side by side with StarClan." Bluefur stared at him, opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't find the words she needed to say. He seemed to sense her struggle and dipped his head, licking each kit. They mewled in protest, waving their tiny paws as their suckling was interupted.

"I'll go and fetch you some water." He meowed, padding from the nursery with a wave of his tail. Bluefur watched him go, curling her tail around her kits. The feeling of their paws kneeding her fur comforted her mind, so she rested her head on her paws and watched them silently.

***W*A*R*R*I*O*R*S***

"Watch this!" Mosskit called happily, flinging the mosswad they had been wrestling with into the air. She leapt at it, batting at it with her tiny paws, but missed by a mouse tail. Instead, she landed ontop of Stonekit with a loud '_Oof_' from both of them as they collapsed into the snow.

Mistykit struggled to contain her laughter, her shoulders shaking lightly and her icy blue eyes gleaming. Stonekit bounced to his paws, eyeing his sister with a frown. He shook snow from his fluffy gray pelt and leapt away from Mosskit, only to land in snow up to his whiskers. Mistykit couldn't contain it any longer, bursting into laughter. Stonekit scrambled out of the hole, his paws digging into the snow.

"What are you laughing at?" He demanded through clenched teeth, concentrating hard on escaping. Before Mistykit could reply, Stonekit scrambled free and rolled head over tail into her, flattening them both.

Bluefur, sitting at the nursery enterance, watched her kits with amusement and pride. White-eye lay a few feet away, washing herself. Her kits, Runningkit and Mousekit, tumbled together farther out into the clearing. They were much bigger than her own kits, three moons older, so White-eye had hardly anything to fear.

"They've been out for quiet a while." She mumbled, half to herself. Looking nervously over at White-eye, she asked, "Should I take them inside?" The queen purred with amusement and understanding glowed in her eyes.

"Kits are stronger than you might think." She paused, licking her paw and swipping it over her ear. "Bring them inside when their noses turn pale."

Bluefur peered out at her kits. They all showed such promise as warriors, Stonekit was already moving lightly on his paws to sneak up on his littermates and Mosskit had crouched in down into an impressive hunting crouch. Their noses shone pink, like little berries. She relaxed some, trusting the words of the experienced queen.

"_Bluefur!_" The raspy voice was, for a moment, unfamiliar, and she tensed. But then she spotted Goosefeather crouched low to the ground nearby, fear-scent wafting from him.

"Why...why..._WHY _did you do this? You've only caused distractions for yourself, given yourself a _weakness _that can be used to tame you!" His voice was low and hoarse, almost like a growl. "I told you...I WARNED you... and you still went and met him."

Bluefur froze. "You saw..."

"Yes, I saw you with that RiverClan tom." He said, though his eyes betrayed not betrayal, but sorrow. "You didn't set out to cause this, you couldn't have known you and he would bear kits the first and only time you would meet in secret. But fire must blaze... ALONE."

"Goosefeather..." She hissed, the rage surging through her flexing her claws and barring her teeth surprised even her. "You aren't _**threatening **_the lives of my kits, are you?" Her threat had no effect on the old medicine cat, calmness gleaming in his eyes.

"No. Not even I would stoop low enough to harm innocent kits, Bluefur." He replied with a steady voice. "But they have a father that could raise them."

"So now you're telling me to abandon my own kits, is that it? Is this really what a servent of StarClan is telling me?" Bluefur spat. "They need ME not a father. Besides," She held her head higher. "Thrushpelt is their father here."

"Ah, so that's how you plan to tell this. Just to sit back with your false mate and kits half enemy while your clan drowns in their own blood? Sounds wonderful." He shot back, flashing his eyes over to where Thistleclaw and Tigerclaw were sharing tongues.

"Let my live my own life, Goosefeather. Leave me be. I want to decide something for myself for once! I didn't get to choose when I got to loose Moonflower! Or Snowfur! I'm not going through that again."

She stood and turned her back on the shivering medicine cat. "Come on, kits! Time for your naps." She called. Her kits bounded to her, certain that they weren't a bit tired, as she led them inside the nursery.


End file.
